Rhonda K. Garelick writes on fashion, performance, art, and cultural politics. Her books include Rising Star: Dandyism, Gender, and Performance in the Fin de Siècle, Electric Salome: Loie Fuller’s Performance of Modernism, and, as co-editor, Fabulous Harlequin: ORLAN and the Patchwork Self. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, New York Newsday, International Herald Tribune, and The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as in numerous journals and museum catalogs in the United States and Europe. She is a Guggenheim fellow and has also received awards from the Getty Research Institute, the Dedalus Foundation, the American Association of University Women, the Whiting Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. Garelick received her B.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature and French from Yale University.
“A detailed, wry and nuanced portrait of a complicated woman that
leaves the reader in a state of utterly satisfying
confusion—blissfully mesmerized and confounded by the reality of
the human spirit.”—The Washington Post
“Writing an exhaustive biography of Chanel is a challenge
comparable to racing a four-horse chariot. . . . This makes the
assured confidence with which [Rhonda K.] Garelick tells her story
all the more remarkable.”—The New York Review of Books
“This monumental biography . . . anchors Chanel’s remarkable story
within larger cultural, social, and political forces.”—Library
Journal (starred review)
“Broadly focused and beautifully written.”—The Wall Street
Journal
“Garelick can convincingly, and engagingly, illuminate a succession
of parallels between fashion and politics.”—The New York Times Book
Review
“A true coup de grâce . . . a vital entry in the extensive library
of Chanel scholarship.”—Yale Alumni Magazine
“This is the definitive biography of Chanel. It is also the life of
one of the most successful world conquerors who has ever imposed
her will on a vast subject population. It is gripping, astute, and
elegantly written. And if it leaves you leery of ever wearing a
Chanel jacket, or carrying a Chanel bag, you will understand where
the desire for it came from.”—Judith Thurman, author of the
National Book Award–winning Isak Dinesen: The Life of a
Storyteller
“In this magisterial, affecting portrait, Rhonda K. Garelick traces
Chanel’s history as a woman and as a designer and in doing so
illuminates the troubling contradictions of twentieth-century
Europe. Her book is a masterwork of original research and
psychological nuance, remarkable in combining insight into her
subject with insight into modernity entire. It’s a Jamesian
portrait of the curious mix of sadness and sadism that loneliness
can hatch. It is also a deeply moving exploration of a damaged,
unhappy genius striving vainly for an elusive wholeness, and, by
sheer force of will and vision, remaking the world’s notion of
elegance in her own image.”—Andrew Solomon, author of the National
Book Award–winning The Noonday Demon
“A stylish book about style, based on meticulous research and a
deep understanding of French culture. Rhonda Garelick tells this
extraordinary story with just the right blend of sympathy and
judgment, in an utterly readable account.”—Peter Brooks, author of
Reading for the Plot and Henry James Goes to Paris
“Garelick expertly illuminates the forces that created one of the
world’s most iconic brands. Mademoiselle is a fascinating account
of the grit as well as the glamour behind the rise of Coco
Chanel.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana and A World on
Fire
“Garelick explores the world of Coco Chanel in intimate—and
intricate—detail, revealing the life and times of the woman she
astutely describes as ‘understanding how the right labels can
govern desire.’ This is a must-have book for followers of fashion
and social history devotees alike.”—Lindy Woodhead, author of War
Paint and Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge
“Definitive . . . Cultural biographer Garelick . . . offers a fine
psychological portrait of the poor orphaned girl [who] succeeded
smashingly on her own terms.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Delivers a probing, well-researched and insightful biography of
this familiar but endlessly surprising figure.”—Publishers Weekly
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